Swinney releases budget figures

John SwinneyJohn Swinney agreed to publish the new information after opposition pressure
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The Scottish government has published its budget figures for the next few years, after opposition pressure.

Finance Secretary John Swinney originally unveiled his spending plans for one year, but has now released illustrative figures for up to 2015.

The figures show every department with essentially the same level of spending up until 2015.

Labour said the figures were disingenuous and claimed Mr Swinney had “refused to engage properly”.

MSPs are voting on the government’s 2011-12 budget – the SNP’s last before May’s Scottish elections – for the first time this week.

Mr Swinney previously brought forward one-year plans, saying a full, three-year budget might have to be altered at a later date because of the uncertain future over public spending levels.

But opposition MSPs accused the finance secretary of putting party political interest before that of the country.

The additional budget information – which has been supplied to the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee and shows small rises in health and falls in administration spending – covers 2012-13 and 2014-15.

Mr Swinney said the new illustrative figures – published amid a £1bn Treasury funding cut for this year’s Scottish budget – were intended to allow the public sector to look at options for the future.

They were published, he said, on the assumption that most government departments and local government would receive flat cash settlements at the same level as proposed in the draft budget for 2011-12.

The finance secretary added that a review of public services was currently underway, adding: “These illustrative figures must be viewed with that firmly in mind.

“They do not represent the results of final decisions taken by the Scottish government but they should provide a framework within which public sector organisations, and stakeholder groups across Scotland, can discuss options and consider the range of possibilities within which they can plan for the future.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

MI5’s suspects

A surveillance cameraman (posed by a model)The new system means more monitoring and fewer restrictions
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The government is planning to abolish control orders used to restrict the freedoms of some terrorism suspects. So what do we know about the men subjected to the system?

In an ordinary British street, there lives a British man, who the courts say wants to be a suicide bomber.

The man, known for legal reasons as Controlee AM, is one of the eight currently held on a control order, restrictions described in some of the cases as “virtual house arrest”.

For the past five years, the home secretary has signed orders to restrict the freedoms of almost 50 men suspected of involvement in terrorism.

But what do we actually know about the men themselves?

Two of the eight have been tried and acquitted on terrorism charges.

Two, including AM, are linked in court papers to the plot to bomb transatlantic airliners in 2006.

Much of what the BBC has learnt about the men, including the real identities and whereabouts of seven of them, cannot be reported for legal reasons.

Controlee AM is British Indian and was initially watched as part of the wider investigation into the 2006 transatlantic bomb plot.

Cerie Bullivant

“As long as you are using secret evidence, as long as you are detaining people and are not telling people what they are accused of, it will be used for radicalisation”

Cerie Bullivant, former controleeThe convert and the control order

The security service initially thought that AM did not show “the typical characteristics of an individual preparing to martyr himself”.

But that assessment changed. AM was subjected to a control order because he was thought to be in contact with senior al-Qaeda figures in the UK and Pakistan. MI5 officers visited him and told him the control order could end if he showed he had turned his back on extremism.

In a legal challenge, AM denied the allegations. He said the control order restrictions which included removing his internet-enabled X-Box, amounted to “psychological torture”.

But, in the words of the open High Court judgement in his case, he remained “prepared to be a martyr in an attack designed to take many lives.”

The other man linked to the 2006 plot is known as Controlee AY. He was served with a control order in September 2008. A High Court judge later upheld the order, saying AY was a “committed Islamist” who could be involved in “potential future engagement in terrorism-related activities”.

Among the powers that can be used to restrict a suspect’s movements is an order to relocate them, described in one High Court hearing as “internal exile”.

An open judgement in the case of AYOpen judgements: Limited information in the public domain

“CA”, a married British Pakistani man with children, was placed under restrictions in February 2010. He was moved from his home in southern England to another location more than 100 miles away.

The move was an attempt to break up an alleged network after MI5 assessed that CA was trying to travel to Pakistan for terrorism training, something he denied.

The High Court later ruled CA should be allowed back home because the relocation had placed an “unendurable strain” on his wife.

“If his marriage fails, he may well become embittered against British authorities and revert to extremist views and actions,” said the judge. “What is, in my judgement, the most significant constraint upon him doing so would disappear.”

BX, the fifth of the eight current controlees, has also relocated. He has also been jailed for breaching his order.

The Somali-born former train conductor, married with children, is alleged to have been involved in arranging “financial and other support for al-Qaeda associates in East Africa”.

Court documents say that when he was detained at Nairobi Airport he tried to swallow a list of phone numbers.

He denied the allegations, but in May 2010, the High Court declared that the relocation was justified.

“It is too dangerous to permit him to be in London even for a short period,” ruled Mr Justice Collins.

Controlee BH is another British Pakistani man accused of having received terrorism training overseas. He is alleged to have links with two former controlees who absconded and fled the UK.

The remaining two suspects have both been charged with breaching their control orders and are likely to face future trials. One of them was relocated twice to towns in different parts of England.

So with the coalition expected to remodel the system, what should the authorities do with this small group of men they suspect are a threat to the public?

CONTROL ORDERS: NEW REGIME?End overnight curfews – but overnight residency at named locationTag suspects – same as nowBans on visiting locations difficult to keep under surveillanceAllow mobile phones – but only if numbers are suppliedForeign travel banBan on meetings with other suspectsFuture of control orders revealed

Lord Carlile QC, the outgoing terror laws watchdog, has long said that control orders are justifiable in a small number of cases where individuals are suspected because of secret intelligence material, rather than evidence of a crime.

The replacement regime is designed to allow surveillance to continue while satisfying the coalition’s aim of “rebalancing” security and liberties.

But surveillance is expensive and requires teams of up to 30 trained observers to watch one suspect around the clock.

But critics say that any forms of restriction are manifestly unfair.

Imran Khan, a solicitor who represents two controlees, says: “If there was a risk, I would suggest that the best way of neutralising that is to have a trial.

“Put that evidence in the public domain, have it tested by lawyers from both sides, cross-examine and question the individual concerned.”

But Bob Quick, Scotland Yard’s retired counter-terrorism chief, says that there is a difference between credible intelligence assessments of a threat and evidence of a crime that will lead to a conviction.

“Control orders are an instrument of absolutely last resort,” he says. “They are intended for people at the very extreme end of those who pose a threat to society, those in respect of whom we have very compelling intelligence.”

Cerie Bullivant is a former controlee who speaks openly about the experience. He went on the run from his order – but turned himself in and in 2008 won his case in the High Court. He says that the system cannot be reformed – and the new restrictions are just the old ones rebranded.

“I was born and brought up in Great Britain where there are fundamental rights to a fair trial, to hear the evidence, to know what you are accused of.

“As long as we are back-tracking on that, things that have been part of this country since the Magna Carta, then we lose any battle before we have started.”

“As long as you are using secret evidence, as long as you are detaining people and are not telling people what they are accused of, it will be used for radicalisation.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Taylor ‘not expenses scapegoat’

Lord TaylorLord Taylor faces six allegations of false accounting
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The trial of a former Conservative peer accused of making false expenses claims is set to resume.

Lord Taylor of Warwick faces charges relating to costs claimed for travel between a home in Oxford and the Houses of Parliament.

On Friday he said it had been a “quirk” of House of Lords which led him to list as his main residence a property at which he had never stayed.

The former barrister denies six charges of false accounting.

The 58-year-old, who has resigned the Conservative whip, said on Friday that he had listed his main residence as a home in Oxford, while he actually lived in London, following advice from colleagues.

It was commonplace for the wording of parliamentary guidelines not to be adhered to strictly, he told Southwark Crown Court.

Asked where he lived, Lord Taylor replied: “I physically lived in Ealing. It was the only place I physically lived in, yes.”

Mr Justice Saunders, the trial judge, then said: “Residing means physically living, doesn’t it, Lord Taylor?”

The peer said that in reality, the term “main residence” was more ambiguous.

He said: “There were difficulties, and I certainly wasn’t the only one.”

Lord Taylor said it was a “bone of contention” among peers in the House.

Judge Saunders continued: “There was ambiguity over it?”

He replied: “Yes. It was a quirk like many other things in the House of Lords.”

Lord Taylor, of Lynwood Road, Ealing, west London, faces six allegations of false accounting on various dates between March 2006 and October 2007.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Palestinians attack ‘talks leaks’

A Palestinian youth hurls a stone at Israeli border police during clashes in the east Jerusalem Arab neighbourhood of Issawiya on 3 December 2010East Jerusalem has been a major sticking point in the peace process

Top Palestinian officials have questioned the veracity of leaked documents purporting to show offers of major concessions to Israel.

The documents, obtained by al-Jazeera, suggest the Palestinians agreed to Israel keeping large parts of illegally occupied East Jerusalem – an offer Israel apparently rejected.

But chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said the leaks were “a pack of lies”.

The BBC has been unable to verify the documents independently.

Al-Jazeera says it has 16,076 confidential records of meetings, emails, communications between Palestinian, Israeli and US leaders, covering the years 2000-2010.

The Palestinians are reported to have proposed an international committee to take over Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, and limiting the number of returning refugees to 100,000 over 10 years.

The papers are believed to have leaked from the Palestinian side.

But Mr Erekat appeared to challenge their authenticity, saying the Palestinian leadership had nothing to hide.

“We have not gone back on our position,” he told al-Jazeera.

“I don’t know from where al-Jazeera came with secret things”

Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority President

“If we had given ground on the refugees and made such concessions, why hasn’t Israel agreed to sign a peace accord?”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is due to hold talks on the Middle East peace protest on Monday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, also raised doubts about the leaks.

“I don’t know from where al-Jazeera came with secret things,” he was reported to have told Egyptian newspaper editors in Cairo.

But a spokesman for the Hamas militant movement, which controls the Gaza Strip and rivals Mr Abbas’ Fatah movement, said the documents revealed the “ugly face of the Authority, and the level of its co-operation with the occupation”.

They show “the level of the Fatah Authority’s [sic] involvement in attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause, particularly on the issue of Jerusalem and refugees, and its involvement against the resistance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip”, Sami Abu Zuhri said, quoted by AFP news agency.

Current peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been suspended for months, ostensibly over Israel’s refusal to stop building Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The BBC’s Wyre Davies, in Jerusalem, says there has been increasing frustration and protest among many Palestinians over what they see as Israeli expansion and the weakness of their own leaders – a view that will be reinforced by the leak of these documents.

Among the leaked papers, the alleged offers relating to East Jerusalem are the most controversial, as the issue has been a huge stumbling block in Mid-East talks and both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.

Analysis

A key question is who gains from the leak? There isn’t much here that will shock anyone with private knowledge of the peace process. But the average Palestinian may feel betrayed because their leadership has been telling them a different story.

The Americans don’t gain much. The Israelis look churlish for turning down major concessions.

These documents haven’t been found in a wastepaper bin. So the most likely source is a Palestinian rival who wants to damage the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas.

He has not been directly quoted in these documents so far and being at arms length may allow him to distance himself from the fallout.

But Saeb Erekat has been too quick to rubbish them because, as he knows, off the record many of us have heard his team say things like this before.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, establishing close to 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements.

According to al-Jazeera, in May 2008, Ahmed Qurei, the lead Palestinian negotiator at the time, proposed that Israel annex all Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem except Har Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim), in a bid to reach a final deal.

“This is the first time in history that we make such a proposition,” he reportedly said, pointing out that this was a bigger concession than that made at Camp David talks in 2000.

“We are offering you the biggest Yerushalayim in Jewish history,” Mr Erekat was quoted as saying, using the Hebrew word for Jerusalem.

Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) leaders also privately suggested swapping part of the flashpoint East Jerusalem Arab neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah for land elsewhere, according to the leaks.

In addition, Palestinian negotiators are said to have proposed an international committee to take over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, which houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque – Islam’s third holiest site.

And they were reported to be willing to discuss limiting the number of Palestinian refugees returning to 100,000 over 10 years.

The leaks also purport to show that Palestinian leaders had been “privately tipped off” about Israel’s 2008-2009 war in Gaza, a claim Mr Abbas has denied in the past.

These highly sensitive issues have previously been non-negotiable.

The Israelis apparently rejected the concessions and made no offer in return.

Also the reportedly curt dismissals by some US politicians of Palestinian pleas do not fit with the message of even-handedness that President Obama tried to put across in his 2009 Cairo speech, says the BBC’s Jonny Dymond in Washington.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Manuel Hassassian, said that if confirmed, the documents would show that “major concessions” had been offered.

“But I think we need to see this in context,” he told the BBC World Service’s World Today programme.

“What was Israel willing to give in return to these concessions? Nobody talks about the other side.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

AV referendum ‘at risk in Lords’

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The government has accepted there is a “real risk” its plans for a referendum on electoral change could be delayed by ongoing debate in the House of Lords.

But Lords leader Lord Strathclyde said he hoped to find a “sensible and constructive way forward”.

He added that ministers were willing to accept changes.

Labour’s Lord Falconer said he believed there could be “give and take”. Peers held all-night sittings last week amid bitter disputes over the plans.

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill would schedule a referendum on bringing in the alternative vote (AV) system for Westminster elections on 5 May.

It also contains provisions for the number of MPs to be cut from 650 to 600 and for constituency boundaries to be re-drawn.

Labour argue that these plans should be separated into two bills, but the coalition says they are part of the same overall package of reform.

Peers spent many hours discussing the proposals last week, with no obvious end in sight.

WHAT IS ALTERNATIVE VOTE

Under the AV system, voters rank candidates in their constituency in order of preference.

Anyone getting more than 50% of first-preference votes is elected.

If no-one gets 50% of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their backers’ second choices allocated to those remaining.

This process continues until one candidate has at least 50% of all votes in that round.

Vote reform: Where parties stand Q&A: Alternative Vote referendum

The Electoral Commission needs a full 10 weeks, as set out in previous legislation, to fully prepare for a referendum, meaning the bill would have to receive Royal Assent by 16 February.

Government sources have indicated that, if no deal is reached, ministers may seek to force the measure through the Lords by a series of “guillotine” motions.

This would be unprecedented and likely to result in widespread opposition in the House of Lords, which traditionally is self-regulating when it comes to debates.

Lord Strathclyde told his fellow peers: “We are open to changes to this bill, but not the fundamental thrust of this bill…

“We must together find a way for the House to consider this bill in a timely manner.”

He added: “At some point we may need to review how well our conventions work, rooted as they are in the principle of self-regulation… I’m sure we can find a sensible and constructive way forward.”

For Labour, former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer promised to respond “constructively” to the government’s comments.

He added: “I urge the government to redouble efforts to reach a compromise… We are at an impasse…

“The right of the government to get its bills passed in reasonable time has to be balanced by the right of the opposition to give reasonable scrutiny to a bill…

“We stand ready for positive discussions.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

BBC to cut online budget by 25%

BBC OnlineBBC Online’s budget will be cut by £34m by 2013/14
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The BBC is to cut about 200 websites as it reduces the amount of money it spends on its online output.

The changes, which will see BBC Online’s budget cut by £34m, will also result in the closure of up to 360 posts over the next two years.

Among the sites to close include teen site Switch and community sites h2g2 and 606.

The plans are part of the BBC’s cost-cutting measures to make 20% savings as a result of the Licence Fee settlement.

The changes are intended to make the BBC website more distinctive and reduce competition with commercial websites.

Skills website RAW, creative teen service Blast and documentary website Video Nation will also be closed under the reorganisation.

Other reductions include the replacement of the majority of programme websites with automated content and the automation of bespoke digital radio sites 1Xtra, 5 live sports extra, 6 Music and Radio 7.

‘Refocusing priorities’

There will be fewer news blogs while standalone forums, communities and message-boards will be reduced and replaced with integrated social tools.

There will also be a reduction in the overall amount of sports news, live sport and showbusiness news, but also more culture and arts coverage on the News website.

About 180 websites are expected to close ahead of schedule later this year. The overall changes will be made by February 2013/14.

BBC director general Mark Thompson said: “BBC Online is a huge success, but our vast portfolio of websites means we sometimes fall short of expectation.

“A refocusing on our editorial priorities, a commitment to the highest quality standards, and a more streamlined and collegiate way of working will help us transform BBC Online for the future.”

As part of the BBC’s Putting Quality First strategy, BBC Online will form 10 distinctive areas: News, Sport, Weather, CBeebies, CBBC, Knowledge & Learning, Radio & Music, TV & iPlayer, Homepage and Search.

Editorial focus will be on high quality news, clearer local sites on news, sport, weather and travel and creative spaces for children.

The iPlayer will also be re-shaped into a unified offering, bringing together programming and programming information with archive content.

The current BBC Online budget is £137m.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

CBI boss: Coalition lacks vision

Sir Richard LambertSir Richard said some political initiatives have been damaging to business and job creation

The outgoing boss of the business body CBI has accused the coalition of failing to come up with policies that support economic growth.

“It’s failed to articulate in big picture terms its vision of what the UK economy might become under its stewardship,” Sir Richard Lambert said in a speech.

Sir Richard said business supported the government’s spending cuts.

But some politically motivated initiatives were damaging, he said.

The government has “taken a series of policy initiatives for political reasons, apparently careless of the damage they might do to business and to job creation”, Sir Richard said in his last major speech before his departure on Friday.

Spending cuts and initiatives such as this month’s VAT increase from 17.5% to 20% would help fix the UK’s structural deficit over time, Sir Richard said.

“But to bring the public finances back to full health, they will have to be accompanied by increased output and employment – which bring with them higher tax revenues,” he stressed.

“Public spending cuts and private sector growth are two sides of the same coin.”

Hence, without initiatives supporting private sector growth, the spending cuts would not only be futile; they would be actively detrimental, he reasoned.

“It’s not enough just to slam on the spending brakes,” he said.

“Measures that cut spending but killed demand would actually make matters worse.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Siege shooting man dies at scene

breaking news

Police have sealed off a park in Luton, Bedfordshire, after officers confronted a man who is reported to be armed.

The stand-off began on Sunday night in Leagrave Common and is continuing on Monday.

Dozens of officers are reported to be at the scene as negotiations with the man continue.

A police spokesman said there was no danger to the public. Nobody has been hurt.

Gareth Lloyd, a reporter at BBC Three Counties Radio, said the man was sitting in a patch of open ground.

Details of how the incident started are sketchy.

“It’s a popular area and dog walkers are complaining about the situation.”

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Thousands queue to see Monet show

People queue for Monet exhibition in ParisSome people queued for up to five hours to see the exhibition
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Thousands of art lovers queued for hours in freezing temperatures over the weekend for a final look at a major Claude Monet retrospective in Paris.

The Grand Palais opened round the clock to cope with the demand to see nearly 200 works by the 19th century French Impressionist.

Film star Jodie Foster was among those to visit the exhibition before it closes on Monday evening.

It is the biggest retrospective on Monet in decades.

“I came all the way here [to Paris] to work and then I got sidetracked and decided to go see the Monet,” Foster told Reuters.

Jean-Paul Cluzel, chairman of the Grand Palais, said the museum had decided to keep its doors open continuously from Friday to cope with the record number of visitors.

Nearly one million people have attended since the exhibition opened in late September.

“The three nights add up to 40,000 more visitors,” Mr Cluzel said.

“There is a special experience, a special feeling when you visit such an exhibition by night,” he added.

Staff from the museum brought hot drinks and slices of cake through the night for the crowds as some queued for up to five hours to see the exhibition.

The Monet retrospective is the first devoted to the artist since 1980 and features exclusive loans from countries all over the world including Australia, Brazil, USA, the Netherlands, and Russia.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Costly Euro space laser reviewed

Earthcare (Esa)Europe’s Earthcare satellite is unlikely now to get into space before 2016
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European scientists are being asked whether they still want to go ahead with a pioneering space laser mission.

The Earthcare satellite would study the role clouds and atmospheric particles play in a changing climate.

But difficulties in developing the spacecraft’s lidar instrument mean the cost of the venture will likely rise from 450m to 590m euros (£500m).

A review is therefore taking place to assess the science value and technical risks of proceeding.

“European Space Agency (Esa) member states have asked us to bring together all the pros and cons in this formal review,” said Dr Volker Liebig, Esa’ director of Earth observation.

“They want us to speak to the scientists, to look into whether there are any alternatives which lead to the same scientific results. We will then take the conclusions of this review to the member states so they can decide what to do,” he told BBC News.

Earthcare was chosen to be one of Esa’s Earth Explorers – a series of spacecraft that will do innovative science in obtaining data on issues of pressing environmental concern.

Three missions have so far gone into orbit, returning remarkable new information on gravity, polar ice cover, soil moisture and ocean salinity.

Earthcare is in line to be the sixth Explorer. It would study how clouds and aerosols (fine particles) form, evolve and affect our climate, the weather and air quality.

Scientists say knowledge gaps in such areas severely hamper their ability to forecast future change.

Different sorts of cloud have different effects. For example, low cloud can help cool the planet while high cloud can act as a blanket.

EUROPE’S EARTH EXPLORERS

Smos artist's impression (Cesbio)

Goce was launched in 2009 to map the subtle variations in Earth’s gravity fieldSmos (above) has been studying ocean salinity and soil moisture for over a yearCryosat-2 was launched in 2010 to measure the shape and thickness of polar iceSwarm is a trio of satellites that will map the Earth’s magnetism from next yearAeolus is another innovative laser mission that will measure winds across the globeEarthcare was selected in 2004 to examine the role of clouds and aerosols in climate changeTwo other missions will emerge from competitive selection processes

Developing the primary instrument on Earthcare to get at this information has proved extremely problematic, however.

The intention is to use a lidar, which would fire pulses of ultraviolet light down into the atmosphere.

From the way this light is scattered back to the spacecraft, scientists would be able to build up a picture of where in the atmosphere different cloud types and aerosols reside, and work out their impact on the energy budget of the Earth.

But the instrument’s prime contractor, EADS Astrium SAS (Toulouse), has had a torrid time arriving at a design that would reliably work in the vacuum of space.

In tests, engineers found the instrument would contaminate itself with molecular deposits released from the mechanism’s own materials whenever they ran the laser in conditions similar to those expected in orbit.

“It was only happening when we operated it in a vacuum,” explained Dr Liebig.

“We’ve had to organise a lot of research but we now understand what happens. It led to the decision that we should go from a monostatic laser which means you have the transmitting and receiving parts in one, to a bi-static laser which divides the two. On top of that, we pressurise the laser. This is a big change.”

The final preferred configuration has delayed Earthcare’s progress and added significantly (140m euros) to the projected total mission cost.

It is unlikely now that Earthcare can get into orbit before 2016 – two years later than recent estimates.

Some of the extra cost – about two-thirds – is a result of the additional investment required to build the lidar in the new configuration, but part of the inflation – about one-third – is a consequence of having to use a more powerful rocket to launch what will now be a bigger and heavier satellite.

Clouds (Reuters)Climate modellers need more information on clouds

Earthcare will require the more expensive Soyuz vehicle rather than the less expensive Vega rocket.

Esa’s Earth observation programme board has asked for a review of the Earthcare project.

The agency’s member states want to establish the technical risks of moving ahead with the mission.

They want to know that costs will not go on climbing; and they also want reassurance that the promised advances in scientific knowledge can still be delivered by the satellite.

Professor Anthony Illingworth from Reading University, UK, is the European chair of the panel of scientists that advises Esa on the Earthcare mission.

He told BBC News that there was still a huge amount of knowledge to be gained from flying a space lidar.

“When we look at climate models, the principal cause of uncertainty is the clouds,” he said.

Volcano in southern Iceland (AP) Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull eruption emphasised the need for lidar technology

“There is a big, what we call, ‘forcing effect’ from high and low levels clouds, and at the moment they almost cancel out. So, the effect of the clouds on the Earth is a slight cooling. But of course in a future climate, if the balance of high and low-level clouds changes – which is why Earthcare is important because it would tell you where the clouds are – and you get more high-level clouds then that would warm the Earth up even more.”

The scientific case has also been bolstered in the past year by the Eyjafjallajokull eruption in Iceland, which led to economic losses across the EU put at many hundreds of millions euros. One of the most valuable datasets in determining the precise distribution of the volcanic plume came from the lidar on the US Calipso satellite. Earthcare could undoubtedly make a similar contribution if such conditions were ever repeated.

Like all Esa missions, the Earth Explorer is a pan-European effort.

Industrially, it is managed by the German section of EADS Astrium (Friedrichshafen), but significant parts of the spacecraft are being fabricated in the UK.

These include the main structure of the satellite at Astrium UK (Stevenage), and two additional instruments, at SSTL (Guildford) and SEA Group Ltd (Frome).

A fourth instrument, a cloud profiling radar, is being supplied by the Japanese Space Agency (Jaxa).

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Viber VIOP app for iPhone updated and improved

An update to Viber has hit the app store today. I was impressed with the original release of this free VOIP client when it came out early last month. I especially liked the voice quality, and the notifications. Since the review, Skype with video finally made it to the iPhone and attracted a lot of attention, but I still prefer the audio quality of Viber, and unlike Skype, it doesn’t have to be running to get a call notification. Of course everyone you want to call must be running Viber, but that is the only requirement.

Most of the update to Viber is for bug fixes, and there is also an update to the privacy policy, which some users found confusing or objectionable. Viber servers get a copy of your address book names and phone numbers so the app knows which of your contacts uses Viber without seeing your contact notes or email addresses. You can now read the privacy policy from within the app. New or improved features include a call quality monitor, better Bluetooth support, and fixes to international dialing.

Viber is also coming to Blackberry phones and Android. I don’t think Viber is ever going to threaten Skype, but in some ways I like it better. If you are a frequent caller, especially if you call internationally, it’s worth a look. Viber is voice only, so no video calling.

Viber VIOP app for iPhone updated and improved originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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South Korean iPhone sales reach 2 million

South Korean wireless carrier KT confirmed that it has sold over two million iPhones since the handset launched in the country a little over a year ago. After regulatory wrangling, the iPhone finally made its debut in late 2009 and various versions of the handset have been sold exclusively by KT. The iPhone 4 made its debut in September 2010 and KT broke the one million iPhones sold mark in October. According to the latest figures, over one in every 25 South Koreans own an iPhone and over 50% of these are iPhone 4s.

The explosion of the iPhone in South Korea has shaken up the wireless industry in the Korean country by putting pressure on competing wireless carriers and handset manufacturers. KT, formerly Korea Telecom, is the number two wireless carrier behind leader SK Telecom. The #2 carrier has an exclusive on the iPhone and is grabbing customers from its bigger rival which offers a variety of Android handsets. The situation mirrors the U.S. where #2 AT&T has been creeping closer to #1 Verizon Wireless due to the success of the iPhone. Until 2011 when Verizon announced the CDMA iPhone 4, AT&T had enjoyed over three years of exclusivity with the iPhone.

South Korea is also the home to handset manufacturers Samsung and LG, both of which are highly regarded in their home countries. Samsung is the manufacturer of the popular Android-powered Galaxy S handset which has sold over ten million units worldwide and the Galaxy Tab which has sold over 1.5 million units. LG is also on the forefront of the Android world with the Optimus 2X, a 1080P-recording, Tegra 2-powered handset that debuted this weekend on SK Telecom.

In the upcoming year, the South Korean market is expected to grow from 6.1 million handsets to 16.2 million. It will be interesting to revisit these numbers next year and see how many iPhones make their way into the hands of the South Korean people.

South Korean iPhone sales reach 2 million originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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